In English, of places, "free from danger, unexposed," from 1580s. Meaning "firmly fixed" (of material things) is from 1841, on notion of "affording grounds for confidence." Of telephones, "not wiretapped," from 1961. Replaced Middle English siker, from Old English sicor, from the Latin word. Related: Securely.

Meaning "something which secures" is from 1580s; "safety of a state, person, etc." is from 1941. Legal sense of "property in bonds" is from mid-15c.; that of "document held by a creditor" is from 1680s. Phrase security blanket in figurative sense is attested from 1966, in reference to the crib blanket carried by the character Linus in the "Peanuts" comic strip (1956).

1630s, "covered chair on poles," possibly from a southern Italian dialect derivative of Italian sede "chair" (compare Italian seggietta, 1590s; the thing itself was said to have been introduced from Naples), from Latin sedes, related to sedere "to sit," from PIE root *sed- (1) "to sit." Since Johnson's conjecture, often derived from the town of Sedan in France, where it was said to have been made or first used, but historical evidence for this is lacking.

Introduced in England by Sir Sanders Duncombe in 1634 and first called a covered chair. "In Paris the sedan-chair man was usually an Auvergnat, in London an Irishman" ["Encyclopaedia Britannica," 1929]. Meaning "closed automobile seating four or more" first recorded 1912, American English.

1590s, "remaining in one place," from Middle French sédentaire (16c.) and directly from Latin sedentarius "sitting, remaining in one place," from sedentem (nominative sedens), present participle of sedere "to sit; occupy an official seat, preside; sit still, remain; be fixed or settled," from PIE root *sed- (1) "to sit." Of persons, the sense "not in the habit of exercise" is recorded from 1660s.

"coarse grass-like plant growing in wet places," Old English secg "sedge, reed, rush," from Proto-Germanic *sagjaz "plant with a cutting edge" (source also of Low German segge, German Segge), from suffixed form of PIE root *sek- "to cut," on notion of plant with "cutting" leaves. Compare Old English secg, identical in form but meaning "sword;" and German schwertel-gras "sedge" from schwert "sword," also see the etymological sense of gladiolus). Old Irish seisg, Welsh hesgreed "rush" might represent a similar sense development from the same root. Often spelled seg, segg until present form triumphed early 1900s.

1540s, "matter which settles at the bottom of water or other liquid," from Middle French sédiment (16c.) and directly from Latin sedimentum "a settling, sinking down," from stem of sedere "to settle, sit," from PIE root *sed- (1) "to sit."

Meaning "conduct or language inciting to rebellion against a lawful government" is from 1838. An Old English word for it was folcslite. Less serious than treason, as wanting an overt act, "But it is not essential to the offense of sedition that it threaten the very existence of the state or its authority in its entire extent" [Century Dictionary].

1520s, from Middle French séduction, from Latin seductionem (nominative seductio), noun of action from past participle stem of seducere (see seduce). Originally with reference to actions or beliefs; sexual sense is from 1769, originally always with women as the objects. Earlier appearance of the word in Middle English with a sense "treason, treachery" probably is a confusion with sedition, which confusion also is found in Old French seducion "treason, betrayal."

Old English seon "to see, look, behold; observe, perceive, understand; experience, visit, inspect" (contracted class V strong verb; past tense seah, past participle sewen), from Proto-Germanic *sekhwan (source also of Old Saxon, Old High German sehan, Middle High German, German sehen, Old Frisian sia, Middle Dutch sien, Old Norse sja, Gothic saihwan), from PIE root *sekw- (2) "to see," which is probably identical with *sekw- (1) "to follow" (see sequel), a root which produced words for "say" in Greek and Latin, and also words for "follow" (such as Latin sequor), but "opinions differ in regard to the semantic starting-point and sequences" [Buck]. Thus see might originally mean "follow with the eyes."

Used in Middle English to mean "behold in the imagination or in a dream" (c. 1200), "to recognize the force of (a demonstration)," also c. 1200. Sense of "escort" (as in to see (someone) home) first recorded 1607 in Shakespeare. Meaning "to receive as a visitor" is attested from c. 1500. Gambling sense of "equal a bet" is from 1590s. See you as a casual farewell first attested 1891. Let me see as a pausing statement is recorded from 1510s.

c. 1300, "throne of a bishop, archbishop, or pope," also "throne of a monarch, a goddess, Antichrist, etc.," from Old French sie "seat, throne; town, capital; episcopal see," from Latin sedem (nominative sedes) "seat, throne, abode, temple," related to sedere "to sit," from PIE root *sed- (1) "to sit." Early 14c. as "administrative center of a bishopric;" c. 1400 as "province under the jurisdiction of a bishop."

also seesaw, 1630s, in see-saw-sacke a downe (like a Sawyer), words in a rhythmic jingle used by children and repetitive motion workers, probably imitative of the rhythmic back-and-forth motion of sawyers working a two-man saw over wood or stone (see saw (n.1). Ha ha.). Reference to a game of going up and down on a balanced plank is recorded from 1704; figurative sense is from 1714. Applied from 1824 to the plank arranged for the game.

Old English sed, sæd "that which may be sown; an individual grain of seed; offspring, posterity," from Proto-Germanic *sediz "seed" (source also of Old Norse sað, Old Saxon sad, Old Frisian sed, Middle Dutch saet, Old High German sat, German Saat), from PIE *se-ti- "sowing," from root *se- (1) "to sow" (see sow (v.)). Figurative use in Old English. Meaning "offspring, progeny" rare now except in biblical use. Meaning "semen" is from c. 1300. For sporting sense, see seed (v.).

late 14c., "to flower, flourish; produce seed;" mid-15c., "to sow with seed," from seed (n.). Meaning "remove the seeds from" is from 1904. Sporting (originally tennis) sense (1898) is from notion of spreading certain players' names so as to ensure they will not meet early in a tournament. The noun in this sense is attested from 1924. Related: Seeded; seeding.

mid-15c., "fruitful, abundant," from seed (n.) + -y (2). From 1570s as "abounding in seeds." Meaning "shabby" is from 1739, probably in reference to the appearance of a flowering plant that has run to seed. Related: Seediness.

Old English secan "inquire, search for; pursue; long for, wish for, desire; look for, expect from," influenced by Old Norse soekja, both from Proto-Germanic *sokjan (source also of Old Saxon sokian, Old Frisian seka, Middle Dutch soekan, Old High German suohhan, German suchen, Gothic sokjan), from PIE *sag-yo-, from root *sag- "to track down, seek out" (source also of Latin sagire "to perceive quickly or keenly," sagus "presaging, predicting," Old Irish saigim "seek"). The natural modern form of the Anglo-Saxon word as uninfluenced by Norse is in beseech. Related: Sought; seeking.

c. 1200, "to appear to be;" c. 1300, "to be fitting, be appropriate, be suitable," though the more recent sense in English is the etymological one; from Old Norse soema "to honor; to put up with; to conform to (the world, etc.)," verb derived from adjective soemr "fitting," from Proto-Germanic *somiz (source also of Old English som "agreement, reconciliation," seman "to conciliate," source of Middle English semen "to settle a dispute," literally "to make one;" Old Danish some "to be proper or seemly"), from PIE *somi-, suffixed form of root *sem- (1) "one; as one, together with." Related: Seemed; seeming.

"of pleasing or good appearance," also "proper, tasteful, decorous," early 13c., semlich, from Old Norse soemiligr "becoming, honorable," from soemr (see seem). Related: Seemliness. Old Norse also had soemleitr "fine to look at."

Middle English sein, from Old English gesegen, gesewen, past participle of seon (see see (n.)). From c. 1200 as "perceived, discovered." To have seen everything as a hyperbolic expression of astonishment is from 1941.

When you have seen one of their Pictures, you have seen all. [Blake, c. 1811]

late 14c., "one to whom divine revelations are made," agent noun from see (v.). Originally rendering Latin videns, Greek bleptor (from Hebrew roeh) in Bible translations (such as I Kings ix.9). Literal sense of "one who sees" is attested from early 15c.

Driven out of its literal meaning by boil (v.); it survives largely in metaphoric extensions. Figurative use, of persons or populations, "to be in a state of inward agitation" is recorded from 1580s (implied in seething). It had wider figurative uses in Old English, such as "to try by fire, to afflict with cares." Now conjugated as a weak verb, and past participle sodden (q.v.) is no longer felt as connected.

1560s, from Latin segmentum "a strip or piece cut off, a cutting, strips of colored cloth," from secare "to cut" (from PIE root *sek- "to cut"), with euphonious alteration of -c- to -g- before -m-. Latin segmentum was used in Medieval Latin as a geometry term, translating Greek tmema, and the word was first picked up in English in this sense. Meaning "segmental portion of anything circular" is from 1640s; general sense of "a division, section" is from 1762.